35: Chapter 35: Death Trap! One Man Against Four Elite Swordsmen!

Northeast corner of the final circle, at the top of the cliff.

Long Bao knelt on one knee in the shadow of the rock on the side away from the light, his right hand, clad in a tactical glove, gently brushing over the fallen leaves on the ground, as precise as a pianist tuning piano keys.

He pinched a bit of soil between his fingertips, rubbed it between his finger pads, and observed the changes in humidity.

"The humidity gradient indicates a southeast wind, wind speed level three," he whispered into his headset. "Zhou Long, adjust the angle of your tripwire in zone B3, offset by 15 degrees."

"Received." At the edge of the swamp, Zhou Long was using medical tweezers to wrap a 0.2-millimeter piano wire around a reed stem.

Beads of sweat on his forehead condensed under his mosquito-proof mask, but he dared not raise his hand to wipe them away—any unnecessary vibration could destroy this precise work of death art.

Beneath his feet, twelve Type 72 bounding mines had been modified into a "stacked-wave trigger system": the shockwave from the first bounding mine would blow away the camouflage layer, exposing five directional mines distributed in a fan shape underneath.

The surfaces of these traps were coated with algae extracted from the swamp, making them completely isothermal with the surrounding environment in infrared imaging.

...

On the west side of the lake, Wu Hai was calibrating his "mirror kill formation."

He had disassembled three sniper scopes and installed the lens sets in specific positions within the reeds.

The optical system formed by these lenses could focus sunlight onto preset coordinates—any enemy passing through that area would be exposed by the blinding reflection at a specific moment.

"Optical trap calibration complete."

Wu Hai embedded the last lens into a self-made hydraulic adjustment base. "The angle of incidence matches the sunrise azimuth, with an error of no more than 0.5 arcminutes."

Underwater beside him, six sealed bags containing fluorescent agent were fixed to fishing lines. Once triggered, these fluorescent agents would form moving bands of light on the lake surface, providing the sniper with perfect tracking guidance.

...

In a rock crevice beneath the cliff, Eagle was completing his "acoustic cage."

He embedded four micro-vibration sensors into the rock wall, forming a quadrilateral array. These sensors could capture the slightest footsteps within 20 meters and precisely locate the sound source through a differential algorithm.

Even more lethal, he had also set up "harmonic triggers" around the sensors—sound waves at specific frequencies would detonate pre-planted stun grenades.

"Acoustic lock set," Eagle said, checking the sensor feedback with a spectrum analyzer. "Only recognizing abnormal sounds above 80 decibels with a duration exceeding 0.3 seconds."

He made a final check of the "rockfall system" above the crevice: seven acid-etched limestone blocks hung on nearly transparent carbon fiber lines; anyone attempting to climb the cliff would trigger this man-made landslide.

...

In the observation room, the technician presented the Divine Sword's defense system in a 3D projection.

The twelve Captains leaned forward in unison, their eyes flashing with professional amazement.

"This is turning the entire final circle into a precision instrument!"

"These four actually scavenged so much precision equipment from the previously eliminated contestants!"

The Captain of Snow Leopard pointed at the infrared imaging of the swamp area, "Look at the distribution of these bounding mines; it completely follows a Poisson point process model, with no pattern to follow!"

Long Zhan of the Marine Corps stared at the optical traps in the lake area: "Using lens sets to build a kill corridor... this idea deserves a patent!"

The Captain of Wild Wolf suddenly pointed to the cliff area: "Wait, that rockfall device... how did Eagle calculate the precise breaking point?"

The Divine Sword Captain Liu Bo laughed proudly: "The acid etching time is precise to the second, combined with the Mohs hardness of the local rock. Our Divine Sword geology and demolition classes weren't taken for nothing."

Wang Yuanchao stared at the big screen, his expression becoming increasingly grave.

This defense system had already exceeded the scope of conventional tactics; it looked more like the cutting-edge research results of some military laboratory.

Each trap was a precise combination of mechanics, optics, and acoustics, forming a complementary kill network between them.

"Captain Liu," Wang Yuanchao said in a deep voice, "did you bring classified projects from the international military competition here?"

Liu Bo smiled without saying a word, just tapping his fingers lightly on the table.

The rhythm was perfectly synchronized with Long Bao's heart rate monitor on the screen—68 beats per minute, completely in the optimal combat state.

...

In the dense forest, Su Han's pupils suddenly contracted.

He was observing the swamp area through his sniper scope and discovered that the swaying frequency of the reeds in a certain spot had an abnormal cycle of 0.7 seconds—it was too regular to be caused by the natural wind.

"Harmonic trap..." Su Han's mouth curved slightly. He gently removed his helmet and used a strap to fix it to a branch beside him.

Then he took the captured laser rangefinder out of his tactical backpack and carefully disassembled the reflective prism inside.

Five minutes later, three simple optical reflection devices were set up on the surrounding tree trunks. They would deflect any incoming detection lasers by 90 degrees, pointing exactly at the abnormal patch of reeds Su Han had discovered.

"Taste your own medicine." Su Han slid silently down the tree trunk and began to maneuver toward the lake area.

His movements were like mercury spilling on the ground; every step was precisely chosen on the thickest area of moss, so that even the most sensitive seismic sensors could not capture any vibration.

When he was still three hundred meters away from Wu Hai's sniper point, Su Han suddenly stopped.

He noticed that several "reeds" floating on the water ahead were arranged in a perfect Fibonacci spiral—this was almost impossible to form naturally in nature.

"Optical decoy..." Su Han dug a stranded river mussel out of the silt and used his military knife to drill a small hole in its shell.

He slowly extended this simple periscope into the water and immediately saw the network of fluorescent agent fishing lines that Wu Hai had set up underwater.

A cold smile appeared on Su Han's face.

He gently took out three captured smoke grenades, modified them into time-delay buoys, and quietly dropped them into the water.

These buoys would drift with the current toward Wu Hai's sniper point and release colored smoke at the preset time.

"Professional?" Su Han watched the drifting buoys, a hunter's sharp light flashing in his eyes. "Let me teach you what professional means."